The present invention relates to cooling technology for electronic packaging for computer systems, and, more particularly, relates to a cooling assembly for lowering the temperature of integrated circuit (IC) chip modules mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) substrate and control of condensation resulting therefrom.
The high circuit densities and operating frequencies in modern integrated circuit devices and multi-chip modules of today's computer systems has resulted in a significant increase in the power dissipated by such chip and module components. No matter how fast one wishes to operate a given electronic circuit chip, there almost always is the potential for running it faster if the chip were to be cooled further and more thermal energy is removed during its operation. This is true of computer processor circuit chips and more particularly of such chips disposed within multi-chip modules that generate significant amounts of heat. Because of the demand to run processor modules at increasingly higher speeds, the clock frequencies at which the devices must operate also increases. Power generation correspondingly rises in proportion to the clock frequency, generating thermal demands in terms of energy which must be removed for faster, safer, and more reliable circuit operation. It is required that cooling arrangements be provided so that the heat generated by the operation of these components be effectively and efficiently removed in order to maintain the temperature of the devices within the limits that will keep the operating parameters of the devices in a predetermined range, and, further, to prevent the damage or destruction of the integrated circuit devices by overheating from the high temperatures generated.
Using refrigeration technology, integrated circuit chips and multi-chip modules readily can be cooled to appropriately low temperatures. In addition, however, to the necessity of cooling to prevent damage from overheating, it is also recognized that cooling offers marked advantages in circuit speed, system throughput, and component reliability. With the advent of CMOS processors for computers, the potential performance improvements obtained by lowering chip temperature are intriguing. It is known that a CMOS circuit is capable of operating at higher clock speeds as the circuit temperature is lowered. Current CMOS chip circuit designs generally perform about two percent faster for each 10.degree. C. the chip temperature is lowered. Accordingly, it would not be unreasonable to achieve a 100.degree. C. reduction in chip temperature with refrigeration techniques as compared to cooling with ambient air, thus achieving a 20% performance improvement. It has been reported that the processor frequency of a CMOS processor has been improved by nearly threefold by cooling the processor to temperatures around -200.degree. C.
Various techniques for the cooling of integrated circuit electronic devices are known and many have been implemented with success. Some practiced techniques involve conventional methods such as by directing ambient air onto the components to be cooled; by sealing the computer cabinet and refrigerating the interior of the cabinet; as well as by immersing components in coolants such as liquid nitrogen. Individual integrated chip or multi-chip module components also have been cooled through specialized devices such as hollow cold plates which are attached to the components to be cooled. Liquid coolants can be circulated through the hollow cold plates to effect cooling of the attached components.
However, in order to take practical advantage of the performance improvements achievable by lowering integrated chip temperatures to levels, for example, in the range of -40.degree. C. to -60.degree. C., many engineering problems must be addressed. In addition to issues involving refrigeration system design, evaporator design, and thermal controls, cooling of the electronic components to a temperature below the ambient environment dew point results in condensation problems in that moisture will condense on the cooled components and on the structures and components to which the cooled components may be attached. This condensation can damage and literally destroy the electronic circuitry associated with the integrated chip or multi-chip module and the circuit board on which it is mounted.
Accordingly, a cooling system is needed for an integrated chip or multi-chip module device which effectively and efficiently can reduce the temperature of the device to below ambient dew point without causing condensation damage to the device or contiguous components or circuitry.